'Night Security' Research

In considering thematic motifs for this game idea, I recalled a term I learnt in my Undergraduate studies in Architecture: Liminal Space. In my understanding, this refers to a space of dynamism and communal gathering; a space of transition between several destinations or thresholds that is usually full of activity and conversation. A space that is very familiar in a specific context. American priest Richard Rohr described Liminal Space as follows: Liminal Space is "where we are betwixt and between the familiar and the completely unknown." (https://www.inaliminalspace.org/about-us/what-is-a-liminal-space and https://missionhr.org/care-and-wellbeing/spiritual-resilience/spiritual-formation/what-is-spiritual-formation/richard-rohr-all-transformation-takes-place-in-liminal-space/). Whereas he is using this as a metaphor for the changes a person goes through in life and how that relates to spirituality, in terms of Architectural Liminal Space, the same can also be said in a more literal understanding. It actually is on the border of the what is well-known and what in unnatural.

What defines a liminal space also characterises what makes them so deeply unsettling; familiarity and occupancy. When a space of transition is unoccupied, we are suddenly taken out of our comfort zones by the sheer alien quality of a place of life and sound being quiet and dead. The familiarity gives way to the uncanny. A perfect example of this is an empty theatre, an unoccupied school or a shopping centre that is either closed or abandoned. All the signs of life having been there exist but are not present at that moment, creating a sense of alertness and discomfort in the observer. The location feels frozen in time. Still and foreboding. This atmosphere is exactly what I hope to capture in this game's playable environment.

For an understanding of how the motif of 'Liminal Space' is used in current media, this source was very informative: https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Liminal_Space

Related but slightly different is the motif of 'After Hours', which differs from the use of liminality in that the motif of 'Liminal Space' deliberately tries to evoke a sense of discomfort and fearful apprehension, whereas 'After Hours' stresses the tranquility and familiarity in spite of the darkness and emptiness. See this source for more information: https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/After_Hours